Hotels in Rome HAL?

[pbs55]

Any experience with a pre-cruise Holland American hotel in Rome, Italy?:)

[kootz]

Bump

[xpcdoojk]

I have stayed at the InterContinental at the Spanish steps and it was fabulous but very pricey and I have stayed the Mecante Palace Hotel (part of the Golden Tulip chain) near the train Termini and it was much more reasonable due to location not quite as nice, but for a lot less money. They had a wonderful breakfast and nicely appointed rooms. None of this was with HAL.

jc

[General Max]

We are staying precruise at the Visconti Palace hotel near the Vatican. This is not a HAL hotel bu rather it is a Globus post-tour hotel.

Cheers

General Max

[General Max]

We are staying precruise at the Visconti Palace hotel near the Vatican. This is not a HAL hotel but rather it is a Globus post-tour hotel.

Cheers

General Max

[mrskmirolla]

Any experience with a pre-cruise Holland American hotel in Rome, Italy?:)

I went on line and booked the Gambrinus it was a little ways from some things but it was delightful. Go on trip advisor and check them out.

Kathy

[tooalto]

Just called HAL in regards to pre-cruise stay for our Sep. 2006 cruise on the Noordam. The hotels they use are - Deluxe-Grand Hotel Parco dei Principe, First Class-Visconti Palace and the airport Hilton. We definitely want to go over a few days early and wanted to use our own air and a hotel, the Eliseo, which many of my former clients loved. However, when I checked the air for THIS Sep., I'm seriously thinking about HAL's air and pre-cruise package. I really don't want to buy the the, just borrow a couple seats! Much more pricey than when I was a TA, can't even find good prices with consolidators we used to use. I'll wait awhile before deciding. But, if you do go it on your own, everyone who stayed at the Eliseo absolutely loved it. Very convenient, medium sized hotel. High season rates for this Sep. are about 250 Euros.

[zlato]

Although not HAL hotel, we opted to precruise at the St. Regis---a wonderful, elegant hotel near the center of Rome. My wife and I highly recommend this hotel: elegant ambiance, wonderful and gracious service, superb food! We also hired our own guide and car while in Rome---a professor of history and art; we also highly recommend his services. If interested I can give you his name and email address.

[tooalto]

HI, Zlato,

Yes, we're interested/ Kindly email me at: tooalto@att.net The client who used the Eliseo also used a driver and I will be calling my client for Ringo"s(don't you love the name?) email but would love a backup incase Ringo is nolonger available.
Thanks

[General Max]

Just called HAL in regards to pre-cruise stay for our Sep. 2006 cruise on the Noordam. The hotels they use are - Deluxe-Grand Hotel Parco dei Principe, First Class-Visconti Palace and the airport Hilton. We definitely want to go over a few days early and wanted to use our own air and a hotel, the Eliseo, which many of my former clients loved. However, when I checked the air for THIS Sep., I'm seriously thinking about HAL's air and pre-cruise package. I really don't want to buy the the, just borrow a couple seats! Much more pricey than when I was a TA, can't even find good prices with consolidators we used to use. I'll wait awhile before deciding. But, if you do go it on your own, everyone who stayed at the Eliseo absolutely loved it. Very convenient, medium sized hotel. High season rates for this Sep. are about 250 Euros.


tooalto, how much is HAL asking for the Visconti Palace?

Cheers

General Max

[mushroom]

I've booked the Visconti Palace for my Noordam cruise in Sept of 2006 and the two night package came to 475.00 per person plus transfers. I sorted out all the numbers from HA and compared them with what I thought I could do on my own and decided to do it all with HA. Besides, the insurance covers it all if I do it all with the cruise line.

[lougee1043]

on our own ----santa chiara---------------around the corner from the pantheon

[xpcdoojk]

I've booked the Visconti Palace for my Noordam cruise in Sept of 2006 and the two night package came to 475.00 per person plus transfers. I sorted out all the numbers from HA and compared them with what I thought I could do on my own and decided to do it all with HA. Besides, the insurance covers it all if I do it all with the cruise line.

But if you pay twice as much as you can on your own, you can buy insurance for a lot less. I sometimes think people cause there own problems by trying to eliminate problems by just booking with the cruiseline. JMHO and YMMV:D

jc

[General Max]

mushroom, $950 for 2 nights is really high but I know how HAL is on these. The hotel room is priced almost at "S" suite prices. When we booked our Westerdam cruise last November, their price for one pre-cruise night at the Visconti Palace was astronomical. We booked the same hotel as part of our post-tour with Globus for $137 per person for one night. It is a Friday night so it may also be aweekend rate there.

Cheers

General Max

[mushroom]

You're absolutely right, General Max. We'll more than likely end up backing the hotel and airfare out once we get further along with our reservation. However, for now, we've booked the two pre nights with HA as it allows us to bypass the air-deviation fee as well as lock in some air. Once we can actually look at airfares for next September and evaluate the pro's and con's of doing air on our own, we will have an option of going with HA's full package or creating our own. Also...there's no guarantee that Visconti Palace will be used next year. I've spoken with several reservations agents at HA who indicated Capo d'Africa might be used. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

[General Max]

mushroom, you mention the air deviation fee. We paid $75 each for that as we are arriving 11 days early in October before the cruise to take the Globus tour "Best of Italy" I wasn't too happy about that but HAL gave us our preferred airline from Florida to Rome, British Airways.........and we have a booked European tour that didn't require any airfare.

Cheers

General Max

Cheers

General Max

[General Max]

The booked European tour is a land only 12 day "Best of Italy" through Globus.

Has anyone been on a Globus escorted land tiour?

Cheers

General Max

[sail7seas]

We've stayed a number of times in Rome and our favorite hotel of all we stayed at is The Hassler at the top of the Spanish Steps. Very pricey but really fabulous and a GREAT location.


We stayed once on Via Veneto at the Hotel Majestic. We really enjoyed it but were fortunate to have one of their great rooms. Some of the rooms are not wonderful and we would have less happy if we were in one of those. That also is a terrific location.

Think twice about staying at the airport Hilton. It is really quite a distance from Rome and you will be spending a lot of money on taxis if you wish to go anywhere/see anything.

The airport is a fair distance from the heart of Rome....as is the port.

[xpcdoojk]

I agree whole-heartedly with S7S about staying in Rome and not Fiumicimino(airport). It is not close to Rome at all. There are some neat things to see and do in the area of the airport, but it is not Rome, and you would be extremely disappointed if you wanted to be able to conveniently and inexpensively visit all that Rome has to offer. I would only stay at the airport if I was arriving late and leaving early. There are many great areas in Rome and while the Spanish Steps is the top, there are sites all over the old city that each area has its pluses and minuses. We stayed near the Airport on our last trip last September/October for 1 night in order to catch an early flight home. We arrived in FCO area around 5pm, and we had spent 4 days in Rome a week earlier before we went to stay in a Villa for a week on the Amalfi coast. There is a fabulous ruins of an old city near the airport, but it pales compared to Rome.

jc

[HalFan]

We stayed at the wonderful Hotel Senato a few years ago and have recommended it to all of our friends who also loved it. It faces the Pantheon on the Piazza della Rotondo which is closed to traffic. This area is very central and has lots of good restaurants and gelaterias and is close to the Piazza Navona. The hotel's upper floors have great views over the rooftops of Rome.
Check out their web site at http://www.albergodelsenato.it/home.html
It was recently refurbished and is listed in the Michelin Guide.

[sail7seas]

Ahhh....Piazza Navona. So magnificent. We've spent many an hour there marveling at the Bernini fountains.....So beautiful.

There used to be a fabulous restaurant there, Tre Scalini. Whatever place they have now in its stead is awful by comparison but when Tre Scalini was there, what lunches we enjoyed!!!

[ekerr19]

Think twice about staying at the airport Hilton. It is really quite a distance from Rome and you will be spending a lot of money on taxis if you wish to go anywhere/see anything.

The airport is a fair distance from the heart of Rome....as is the port.

I couldn't agree more!!! There are so many excellent choices within the city and Rome is such a vibrant place, I'm so glad we took the advice on these boards and booked a hotel in town. It does not have to be very pricey to be enjoyable, though Europeans standards are a bit different than what we may be accustomed to. :)

I hope one of these days we will stay at the Hassler or the Inn at the Spanish Steps, both those properties look amazing.

We stayed at the Santa Maria Inn based upon it's #1 rating on www.tripadvisor.com (http://www.tripadvisor.com/) - I don't know if it still has the same rating, but it did last year. Our room was very nice, as was the property and staff. The only drawback some people may have a problem with is the location - it is in the Trastevere district, which is being revitalized - but can be a bit daunting for some. We did not mind it a bit and had no problems at all. We ate one of the best meals we've ever had at a wonderful restaurant within walking distance of the hotel.

We briefly considered staying at the airport Hilton - I'm so glad we didn't.

[sail7seas]

I hope one of these days we will stay at the Hassler or the Inn at the Spanish Steps, both those properties look amazing.

We stayed at the Santa Maria Inn based upon it's #1 rating on www.tripadvisor.com (http://www.tripadvisor.com/) - I don't know if it still has the same rating, but it did last year. Our room was very nice, as was the property and staff. The only drawback some people may have a problem with is the location - it is in the Trastevere district, which is being revitalized - but can be a bit daunting for some. We did not mind it a bit and had no problems at all. We ate one of the best meals we've ever had at a wonderful restaurant within walking distance of the hotel.

We briefly considered staying at the airport Hilton - I'm so glad we didn't.


Laura.......Did you, by chance, have dinner at Sabatini a Santa Maria in Trastevere? It used to be outstanding. I wonder if it still is. We had some fabulous dinners there.

[sail7seas]

Something to keep in mind for those who have not traveled a great deal in Europe.

We take air conditioning for granted in this country but many very nice hotels in Europe do not have a/c. If you are going in the heat of the summer, be sure to verify that the place you are selecting has air conditioning....if it matters to you.

While we all do tons of research on the internet, which is fabulous and so convenienct....

For those who still like to have a book in their hands and a solid reference they can absolutely count on. NOTHING (IMO) beats a Red Michelin Guide when selecting hotels and restaurants. We have never been led wrong. IF you are using a curent edition, you will (almost) always have dependable information and ratings.

[xpcdoojk]

I am going to have to get myself a Michelin's guide to South America. I use Tripadvisor.com all of the time, as you can usually see a trend if it is a popular hotel. Of course some of those reviewers must be cruisers as well as they will complain about the horrible service when the restaurant closes at midnight and the like. :D


jc

[HalFan]

Sail/ekerr19,

I first went to Sabatini in 1969 on my first trip to Europe. It is still there and still good, and the Trastevere area is special. Sabatini isn't in the Michelin Guide anymore. I agree with you - the red guide and the green companion for the sights are totally reliable no matter where you go. We always use them before, during, and after our trips and they have made a substantial difference in our experiences wherever we have used them. The Hotel Senato is still in the guide and that is how we found it many years ago. It has good review on tripadvisor.com also.

[ekerr19]

We had a wonderful dinner at the Taverna Trilussa Trastevere. The outside dining was spectacular and we look forward to visiting again during the summer 2006.

If you have the opportunity to stop in, the meal alone is very much worth the visit to Trastevere.

[sail7seas]

HALfan.......

I'm so happy to hear that Sabatini is still good. We have some wonderful memories of a number of fun evenings there during many trips to Rome.

I could not agree more with you about Michelin for Europe. They are so utterly dependable. It is rare when you rely upon their rating and do not find exactly what they represent the establishment offers.

Happy travels!!!

[sail7seas]

I am going to have to get myself a Michelin's guide to South America. I use Tripadvisor.com all of the time, as you can usually see a trend if it is a popular hotel. Of course some of those reviewers must be cruisers as well as they will complain about the horrible service when the restaurant closes at midnight and the like. :D


jc


Sorry, xpcdoojk.......

Michelin Guides are only for Europe.

(I seem to recall hearing they were going to expand to other regions but do not think they have done so-----yet.)

We would not dream of going to Europe without a current edition of the Red for Hotels and Dining........the Green for sights and tourist attractions.

[HalFan]

Michelin has guides for parts of the US, Canada, Mexico, and Central America, published as Green Guides. But they also have some restaurant and hotel suggestions mixed in with the sights and in the back of the guides. Check on Amazon.com for a list of all they publish.

[xpcdoojk]

S7S and Halfan

You are unfortunately right. There are no guides by Michelin for South America. When I went to Amazon yesterday, it just listed the books I already have. (They did have some books for American cities like New York and a few others.) O well, tripadvisor.com still works. I bought the Green Michelin books back in the 80s when we first went to Germany and Austria, but I hadn't even thought about those books since, and we have been to Europe a few times including just last fall.

jc

[sail7seas]

IMO...even in these Internet days, I think the Red Guides to be as good as ever.....just as invaluable to us.